By Canadian Press

Crown says burden is on Meng’s lawyers to prove device information was wrongly shared

Mar 25, 2021 | 1:53 PM

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for Canada’s attorney general says there’s no evidence that the RCMP shared serial numbers with U.S. investigators for the devices of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. 

John Gibb-Carsley told the B.C. Supreme Court that the burden of proof is on Meng’s legal team to show the numbers were shared, but they can’t do it. 

The court has seen email evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation asked for the serial numbers and RCMP collected them, but the email chain goes cold before confirming if they were sent or not.  

Meng’s legal team is arguing that proceedings in her extradition case should be stayed because of misconduct by RCMP and border officers involved in her arrest. 

Her lawyers say a senior RCMP officer improperly shared the serial numbers, which they describe as a “gateway” to more personal information such as photos and contacts. 

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Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport in December 2018 at the request of U.S. officials to face fraud charges that both she and Huawei deny. 

Gibb-Carsley told the judge that the fact-finding inquiry about number sharing has broader implications about Meng’s claims of what happened.

“It is symptomatic of how (Meng’s lawyers) have created their narrative, that what’s driving the actions of the RCMP and CBSA was a covert criminal investigation to assist the FBI,” he says. 

A factual determination that the numbers weren’t shared is important for refuting the overarching allegations of abuse, misconduct and prejudice of the legal process, Gibb-Carsley says. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2021.

The Canadian Press